Image Credit: Mel Rothenburger
Armchair Mayor

ROTHENBURGER: What City council doesn’t get about living on the North Thompson River

Sep 9, 2023 | 8:06 AM

AS A RIVER DWELLER I’ve been struck by the dearth of insight of most Kamloops City councillors into the challenges of depending on the North Thompson as a source of water.

Just one example of the disconnect is a remark by Coun. Katie Neustaeter as she attempted to reassure Noble Creek Irrigation System users that council understands their plight.

“I would also share with you I’m in a similar situation, I can’t irrigate right now and I realize there are drought impacts on everyone but feel that uniquely and the risks that it poses on property not being able to irrigate and to food security and all of those pieces,” she told them.

Does she think temporary water restrictions on City residents due to the drought in any way compare to large-acreage agriculture that requires thousands of gallons a day to stay viable?

If Dieter Dudy was still on council he could have straightened her out on that but, then, he would have recused himself on a conflict of interest due to being a Noble Creek system user himself.

I’m not on that system but we do have a water licence on the river, talk to others in the same situation, and have some understanding of what it takes to deal with the North Thompson.

Living on the river is a privilege but it requires diligence. The North Thompson is renowned for its turbidity, which can clog intakes and sprinkler heads and burn out pumps.

NCIS users who decide to go it alone and set up their own irrigation systems face some serious design issues and major expenses that, in many cases, likely won’t be entirely covered by the decommissioning payouts they’ll get from the City.

It’s the large amount of silt carried downstream with the North Thompson that causes the turbidity problem. Land along the river is excellent for agriculture but once you dig through the top soil, and the foot or so of clay beneath it, you run into silt that can be a hundred feet deep.

Silt isn’t sand; it’s more like powder. On a beach, it turns into gumbo. In the river, it moves easily with the vagaries of the current. A few years ago the Thompson-Nicola Regional District decided to move the intake for the Black Pines community water system because the river was redirecting itself and causing problems. A new location was found a little downstream but, a year later, it disappeared under silt — if the new intake had been installed in that spot it would have been buried and useless. The only answer was to change plans and drill a well into the water table instead.

Noble Creek land owners who choose not to be part of a community system, or who don’t have direct access to the river, have the option of drilling. That can be a crapshoot. Professional water drillers are excellent at what they do and very good at finding the best place to get to the water table but depth is always an issue. Water can sometimes be found within a short distance from the surface but it also might be hundreds of feet deep. They might even hit bedrock without finding usable water.

(By the way, water witching really does work. I’ve tried it, and the pull on the divining rods when you’re over sub-surface water is quite amazing.)

Drillers charge by the foot; how deep do you go before you give up? And will there be enough water down there to irrigate? Will the water table hold up, or will it empty out in a few years?

There are basically two options for pump systems — jet pumps and submersibles. Jet pumps are cheaper but they have limited lift, silt can raise hell with their impellers, and they require an intake with check valves. Submersibles are preferred. They’re attached to a pipe and slide down a larger pipe far enough to reach the water. They use a simpler, properly screened, intake.

I’m assuming that the temporary pumping system being contemplated to get the NCIS through next year will be a submersible rather than a jet pump sitting on the bank.

Years ago, when Peter Mutrie and I were having lunch, he explained some things about the fickleness of rivers. Peter was executive director of the North Shore Business Improvement Association at the time but knows about river systems from previous work.

It was the first time I’d heard the term “thalweg.” It is the line that follows the lowest part of a river. Rivers have a life of their own, constantly wandering. A straight river will soon start to zig zag and even create oxbows.

This causes erosion such as what’s faced by the intake and pump system at Noble Creek. If erosion is curtailed artificially at one spot, the river throws a tantrum and tries to erode the bank somewhere else.

So, yes, I can sympathize with the stress of those who are on the Noble Creek system. In rural areas, when neighbours talk, water is usually part of the conversation. Someone in town who simply has to turn on a tap and watch their lawns being watered can’t possibly appreciate the challenges faced by the agricultural community.

Justin Fellenz, who runs a hay farm next door to where the Noble Creek system’s water intake is, told CFJC a couple of days ago that, “The nice thing is, the city is out of the picture.” He was referring to the government bureaucracy that surrounds agricultural water supply and his hope that water system users will be able to make better progress towards a solution.

It will also, no doubt, be a benefit not having to deal with a council that looks and sounds confused whenever the issue comes up.

Mel Rothenburger is a regular contributor to CFJC Today, publishes the ArmchairMayor.ca opinion website, and is a recipient of the Jack Webster Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award. He has served as mayor of Kamloops, school board chair and TNRD director, and is a retired daily newspaper editor. He can be reached at mrothenburger@armchairmayor.ca.

Editor’s Note: This opinion piece reflects the views of its author, and does not necessarily represent the views of CFJC Today or Pattison Media.